Storyline
In an African village this is the day when six
4-9-year-old girls are to be ''cut'' (the act of female
genital mutilation) All children know that the operation
is horrible torture and sometimes lethal, and all adults
know that some cut women can only give birth by
Caesarean section. Two of the girls have drowned
themselves in the well to escape the operation. The four
other girls seek "magical protection" (moolaadé) by a
woman (Colle) who seven years before refused to have her
daughter circumcised. Moolaadé is indicated by a
coloured rope. But no one would dare step over and fetch
the children. Moolaadé can only be revoked by Colle
herself. Her husband''s relatives persuade him to whip
her in public into revoking. Opposite groups of women
shout to her to revoke or to be steadfast, but no woman
interferes. When Colle is at the wedge of fainting, the
merchant takes action and stops the maltreatment.
Therefore he is hunted out of the village and, when out
of sight, murdered.

User Reviews
Not just African....
by movietrail
By total coincidence, I found myself at the Japan
premiere of this intriguing film. I had no idea what it
was going to be about, so it was fascinating to watch
unfold. But, unlike most of the reviewers I have read so
far, I did not think of it as an "African" film. I have
seen the dynamics present in this film played out in
many cultures and religions around the world, including
the "West".

Meaningless tradition in the face of humanity is a
universal theme and this film sends the message clearly
home. Anybody who watches this film and smugly thanks
their lucky stars that they weren''t born in such a
barbaric culture, has totally missed the point. They may
even be part of the problem in their own culture, though
unwittingly, as that is exactly how tradition works.

But enough about the message of the film. Even with the
heavy subject matter at hand, the film takes us through
the leisurely- paced life in an anonymous sub-saharan
village, and we get treated to many of the joys and even
the humor of their daily life as well. I believe the
director would like to say that village life, and even
many traditions, are not inherently good or bad; in fact
many will probably feel even some envy of the idyllic
village and its rich culture. This, however, also
happens to be the backdrop of a ritual whose meaning is
long forgotten, not to mention excessively cruel. And
cities are plenty filled with cruelty of different
types.

The fact that the director is male makes the impact of
the film all so much stronger, as he shows no sympathy
to men in general, and sees the weakness of the female
role in African culture (which is just an extreme
picture of sexual discrimination everywhere; and
ironically men are always giving lip service to women).
Thus the general shortage of strong men in the story may
be pointed out as one of the film''s weaknesses. On the
other hand, the women are all top-rate actresses and
their roles are realistic, and the near absence of
character clichés (among major characters) is almost
stunning.

The story is simply told, and many may think it is all
too painfully obvious, but I think it is a work to
observe on multiple levels: e.g., when the story seems
not to be moving ahead we get a chance to learn about
village life (albeit not unrelated to the overall work),
or we get generous helpings of the character development
of the three wives. Subtle interactions among villagers
may bore some, but I found them fascinating. It''s not
made like some Hollywood movie, and thank God for that.